Tansa water mains to be replaced

MUMBAI: The century-old Tansa water mains that supply water to the western suburbs and parts of the island city along the Western Railway, are to be completely replaced as part of a Rs 1,000 crore project.
During the recent summer months, there were as many as 10 cases of major bursts on the Tansa water mains resulting in the disruption of water supply.At Powai, the mains developed leaks almost four times in succession. Similarly, the pipes had burst near Balkumb in Thane on two occasions flooding the area.
“The repair of these century-old pipes are at best a temporary measure and is only delaying the replacement of the water mains, which is urgently required considering the amount of water lost due to leakages,’’ said officials.
The city receives an integrated water supply from its six sources. Water from Tansa and Vaitarna is brought to the Bhandup complex. Here it is filtered and then supplied to the western suburbs as well as parts of the island city on WR. From Bhatsa, the water is brought to the Yewai reservoir, from where it is supplied to the eastern suburbs.
Senior civic officials said with funds being made available by the Centre under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the civic administration is hoping to execute a slew of infrastructure projects in the next two years.
This will help the city garner more funds till the completion of the mission in 2012. “The BMC needs to spend only around Rs 750-800 crore annually as its share of various project costs, while 35% is provided by the Centre and 15% by the city. This has made the undertaking of major projects at one go feasible,’’ said the official.
The Tansa dam was the first to be constructed outside the city and the construction was carried out in two phases. The original work was taken up in 1892 and increased the city’s water supply by 177 million litres daily.
Earlier, it received 82 million litres daily from the Vihar and Tulsi lake. Work on the dam and the water mains was finally completed in 1925. At present, the city receives around 520 million litres daily from Tansa.